The Grammar Logs
#539

With regard to parallel forms, is the following sentence correct ?

Our house is quite small, very sturdy, and extremely comfortable.

Purely in terms of function — three adjectives preceded by three intensifiers — yes, the sentence is in good parallel form. In terms of logic, I'm not so sure. The "quite small" seems to take us in one direction, and then the other two go in a slightly different direction. There's nothing wrong, certainly, with a house being "quite small," but one might expect "quite large" here, instead, given the sense of the other two. The sentence seems to call for a change in direction, not parallel form. But the answer to your question is yes. [Incidentally, don't forget to put a space after every comma.]

Please distinguish between "although" and "though" as used at the beginning of a sentence or clause.

At the beginning of a sentence, these two words are virtually interchangeable. Use whichever sounds better to you. At the end of a sentence, you can use only though, and in the adverbial constructions as though and even though, etc., you must, of course, use though.

An argument broke out over Xmas dinner on the correct use of "whoever" or "whomever" in the following sentence:

"Whoever/whomever you choose will be fine with me."

I argue that "[that] you choose" is an adjectival clause modifying the subject, "whoever". Others argue that "whomever you choose" is itself a clause the whole of which is subject of the verb, "will be". I would therefore choose "whoever", since it is the subject of the verb, "will be"; others would choose "whomever", since it is object of the verb, "choose".

Please advise!

It does my heart good to hear that families argue over points of grammar, even over the Yuletide feast. The verb of your sentence is "will be" and the subject of that verb is the entire clause "whomever you choose." Within that clause, the verb is "choose," the subject "you," leaving the only remaining function, the object, for "whomever." Incidentally, in reading about this, I see that whomever is virtually extinct in England, but still often used in the United States. How this reads among disputatious families in Canada, I don't know. If you lived in Connecticut, I could give you the phone number of a good family therapist.

Which is correct: "Two hour's drive", OR "Two hours' drive.

Also, are the words holiday season, capitalized? Example: "I hope you are enjoying your holiday season", vs., I hope you are enjoying your Holiday Season.

"Two hours' drive" is a construction that Garner calls the idiomatic possessive; others refer to it as a peculiar kind of personification. Outside the realm of greeting card verse, there's no reason to capitalize the phrase "holiday season."

From The Oxford Dictionary of American Usage and Styleby Bryan Garner. Copyright 1995 by Bryan A. Garner. Published by Oxford University Press, Inc., www.oup-usa.org, and used with the gracious consent of Oxford University Press.

What is the difference between in-time (in time) and on-time (on time) or which is correct one and how and when they are used.

For eg: Be on time or Be in time

I will be greatful to you if you can clear my doubt.

If I insist that my students be prompt in submitting their assignments, I will tell them to get their work in on time. "I want the papers by three o'clock, and they must be handed in on time." Or one could advise a friend to get to work on time (at the established hour for the start of business) and hope that that the bus arrives on time (again, at the scheduled hour). If there is an established deadline of some kind, then, a student could say that he submitted the work in time (prior, perhaps just prior, to the established deadline). In saving someone's life, the hero might have to arrive just in time to foil the assassin's plot.

I have problems with the following sentences:

1. I am 23 years old
2. A said she/he was 23 years old
3. A said she is 23 years old.

Which of thetwo is correct grammatically? There are case where one doesn't need to udse past simple inthe second sentence, when is that (exceptions to the dirct speech rules)?

When the reporting verb (like "said") is in the past tense, the main verb of the reported speech will usually be in the past tense ("He said he was sorry"). However, when a simple fact or truism is involved (like her age), there's nothing wrong with keeping the present tense ("She said she is thirty years old"). Also, when the reporting of speech occurs more or less immediately after the sentence is spoken, the form of the original utterance can be maintained: "What did he say?" "He said the President is no grammarian."

I recommend Professor Sorensen's Web-page on reported speech.

Is it correct to us "re-add" and "back into" in the same sentence?

Example:
The parties now wish to readd approximately 866 feet back into the existing space.

The compound "re-add" is a clumsy looking thing, isn't it (and completely unreadable without the hyphen)? Can we try something like "restore approximately 866 feet (which doesn't sound very approximate to me) to the existing space" (I'm also not sure what "existing" means at this point).

Do I use me or myself in the following sentence…

I did it more for her than me(myself).

That would be an appropriate use of the reflexive pronoun myself. You can see how this would work in a simpler sentence: "I did it for myself."

Please settle an argument. Which form of punctuation should be used after the phrase, "to wit"? Is there more than one correct useage?

You can use a comma after "to wit." But ask yourself why you're using such an archaic phrase when "namely" will do the same work.

Here's "to" wishing you a healthy and happy new year, or Here's wishing you …?

You want "Here's wishing you …" You're not proposing a toast to the notion of wishing.

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